UT Vols: Former Webb standout Peighton Meske finishing her run at Tennessee

Webb standout, now UT senior Peighton Meske, wraps up a successful career as a cross country runner for the Lady Vols
Ruth M White, Shopper News

Peighton Meske of the Tennessee Volunteers during the Tennessee Dual between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Louisville Cardinals at Cherokee Farms Cross Country Course in Knoxville, TN.(Photo: Kyle Zedaker/Tennessee Athletics, Kyle Zedaker/Tennessee Athletics)

In fact, one of the few challengers she has had trouble keeping up with this year is time itself.

“I can’t believe it is already my senior year,” she admitted with a laugh regarding how quickly her college career has passed. “It’s going to make me sad when it is over. I have only a couple of cross country races left.”

As Meske looked back at her career at UT, she said it has turned out to be all she hoped, on an off the track and cross-country course.

Peighton Meske of the Tennessee Volunteers during the Tennessee Dual between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Louisville Cardinals at Cherokee Farms Cross Country Course in Knoxville, TN. Kyle Zedaker/Tennessee Athletics, Kyle Zedaker/Tennessee Athletics

Peighton Meske of the Tennessee Volunteers during Day Three of the 2018 SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Tom Black Track at LaPorte Stadium in Knoxville, TN. Photo Adrien Terricabras/Tennessee Athletics, Adrien Terricabras/Tennessee Athletics

Peighton Meske of the Tennessee Volunteers during day one of the SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships at Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium in College Station, TX. Amanda Pruitt/Tennessee Athletics, Amanda Pruitt/Tennessee Athletics

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Among the UT meets so far this fall, she finished sixth overall and third on the team against Louisville with a time of 18 minutes, 12.4 seconds in the three-mile course at Cherokee Farm on Aug. 31. And she finished seventh (and fourth on the UT team) with a career-best 4-kilometer time of 13:38.41, as the Lady Vols won the Auburn Invite on Sept. 7.

She also contributed the third-fastest team time (and 24th best of the meet) with a 21:41.5 in the 6K at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational on Sept. 28. In the most recent meet, she had the fourth-best 6K time (21:41.4) on the team and was 13th overall as the Lady Vols won the Blazer Classic on Oct. 12 in Birmingham.

Off the course, she has felt at home, too, and not just because she has such fellow Knoxville teammates as junior Megan Murray from West High, another top contributor to the team, and freshman Laura Bretscher from L&N STEM Academy.

“I love my teammates,” she said. “That was a big priority when I was looking at schools, having that sense of community.”

She has also felt that family connection this season in a literal sense.

When the Lady Vols ran in the invitational race in Wisconsin, her grandmother, June Partoll, who lives in the Badger State, was able to see her in a college meet for the first time, she proudly said.

Her immediate family actually has roots in Wisconsin. As many close followers of prep sports in the Knoxville area know, her father is David Meske, the longtime successful football coach and athletic director at Webb.

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Webb coach David Meske(Photo: File / Knoxville News Sentinel)

He had grown up in Wisconsin playing football and baseball and wrestled. Her mother, Lyn, had been a long-distance runner in high school, and that is where Peighton likely got some of her running talents. Her older sister, Devon, played soccer at American University.

David Meske had come to UT to graduate school, and, while admittedly a fan of University of Wisconsin sports teams, he also embraced the Vols and used to take Peighton to some UT football games when she was younger.

Her name was even partly inspired by – yes – former Vol football star and NFL great Peyton Manning, she said with a laugh.

Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning calls signals during the UCLA game on Saturday, Sept. 7, 1996, at Neyland Stadium. The No. 2 Vols won 35-20 over the Bruins. Manning's 53-yard touchdown pass to Joey Kent in the fourth quarter clinched the Vols' victory and tied a school record. Manning now has 36 career touchdown passes, a record shared with Heath Shuler and Andy Kelly. Michael Patrick/News Sentinel

Former University of Tennessee football players Jason Witten and Peyton Manning wait to tee off during a charity golf tournament for the Niswonger Children's Hospital. Phil Fulmer, Bruce Pearl and Ryder Cup Captain Cory Pavin were among the other celebrities playing on Monday at the Ridges in Johnson City, TN. Bristol Herald Couier

Peyton Manning runs off the field during halftime during the Tennessee Volunteers vs. Georgia Bulldogs game at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee on Saturday, September 30, 2017. Caitie McMekin, Knoxville News Sentinel

Peyton Manning is inducted into the National Football Foundation College Hall of Fame during the Tennessee Volunteers vs. Georgia Bulldogs game at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee on Saturday, September 30, 2017. Caitie McMekin, Knoxville News Sentinel

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Former Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning, center, is congratulated by coach Phillip Fulmer as his jersey is retired Saturday, Oct. 29, 2005, at Neyland Stadium. UT President John Petersen is at left. Saul Young/News Sentinel

Former Tennessee and NFL great Peyton Manning chats on the sidelines before the start of the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl at Nissan Stadium in Nashville on Dec. 30, 2016. Tennessee beat Nebraska 38-24. Michael Patrick / News Sentinel

Former University of Tennessee and NFL quarterback Peyton Manning is honored by former head coach Phil Fumler and athletics director Dave Hart before the game against Alabama at Neyland Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2016. AMY SMOTHERMAN BURGESS/NEWS SENT

Former University of Tennessee and NFL quarterback Peyton Manning is honored by former UT head coach Phil Fulmer, left, and Athletic Director Dave Hart, right, before the game against Alabama at Neyland Stadium on Oct. 15, 2016. Amy Smotherman Burgess

Former Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning was honored before Saturday's game at Neyland Stadium with a presentation by former coach Phillip Fulmer and UT athletic director Dave Hart. Also pictured are Manning's children, twins Marshall and Mosley. Saul Young/News Sentinel

Football legend Peyton Manning presents four students with the 19th annual Peyton Manning Scholarship in the Peyton Manning Locker Room on the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville Monday, June 20, 2016. (AMY SMOTHERMAN BURGESS/NEWS SENTINEL) Amy Smotherman Burgess

KNOXVILLE, TN - JULY 14: Peyton Manning attends a ceremony to celebrate the life of former Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summitt at the Thompson-Boling Arena on July 14, 2016 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Summitt died June 28 at the age of 64, five years after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. (Photo by Craig Bisacre/Tennessee Athletics - Pool/Getty Images) Pool

photos by AMY SMOTHERMAN BURGESS/NEWS SENTINEL Retired NFL quarterback and former Vol Peyton Manning presents four students with the 19th annual Peyton Manning Scholarship in the Peyton Manning Locker Room at the University of Tennessee on Monday. Amy Smotherman Burgess

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Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning struggles to speak during his retirement announcement at team headquarters Monday, March 7, 2016, in Englewood, Colo. Manning, who has been in the NFL for the past 18 years, is retiring after winning five MVP trophies and two Super Bowl championships, the most recent last month against the Carolina Panthers. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) David Zalubowski

Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning celebrates during the Southern Mississippi game on Nov. 8, 1997, at Neyland Stadium. The eighth-ranked Vols steamrolled No. 24 Southern Miss 44-20 before a crowd announced at 107,073, the second-largest in school history. NEWS SENTINEL ARCHIVE KNS Archive

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associated press Heisman Trophy candidates, from left to right, Michigan's Charles Woodson, Tennessee's Peyton Manning, Marshall's Randy Moss and Washington States's Ryan Leaf pose in the lobby of the Downtown Athletic Club with the Heisman Trophy prior to the start of the ceremony on Dec. 13, 1997, in New York. ADAM NADEL

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NEWS SENTINEL ARCHIVE Tennessee freshman quarterback Peyton Manning runs from pressure applied by Kentucky's defense on Nov. 19, 1994, at Neyland Stadium. Manning threw two touchdown passes, including a 38-yard bomb to Joey Kent, and ran for a 10-yard touchdown. Tennessee's 52-0 rout of the Wildcats was the largest margin of victory in the Beer Barrel rivalry. KNS Archive

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Tennessee athletic director Dave Hart, Tennessee head coach Butch Jones, and quarterback Peyton Manning, from left, share a laugh on the field before the Orange & White game at Neyland Stadium on Saturday, April 25, 2015 in Knoxville, Tenn. (ADAM LAU/NEWS SENTINEL)

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As a result, she quickly eliminated most other schools when thinking about a college. “For me, I only wanted to go to UT,” she said. “And reaching that goal has been pretty amazing.”

Because many of the UT meets are on Fridays, the same day as high school football games, her father has had to miss her meets this year. But due to some lucky travel schedules and a little logistical planning, he is hoping to watch her and the team in the SEC meet on Oct. 26 in Auburn, and then travel back to Chattanooga, where his Webb team will play at Silverdale Baptist Academy that night.

Peighton Meske, who was also a state high school champion in the 1,600 and was a PrepXtra runner of the year twice in cross country, has also done some careful planning regarding her career. Focusing on how the muscles move in life and not just running, she is majoring in kinesiology with plans to go to graduate school to become a physician’s assistant.

Zach Long of Grainger High School and Peighton Meske of Webb School of Knoxville are the cross country runners of the year. (SAUL YOUNG/NEWS SENTINEL)

The academic honor roll student thinks she would prefer that kind of work over becoming a medical doctor because the work schedule is more flexible, and the graduate program is only 2½ years.

As far as her running career, however, she plans to continue it for a long time, and go longer in distance, too.

“I want to run in road races and maybe some marathons,” she said with a smile. “I couldn’t imagine life without running. It is ingrained in you.”